Vocational competencies for ski patrollers

Prior to 2011, the accepted standard of first aid training for ski patrollers in Australia was the Australian Ski Patrol Association's Advanced Emergency Care Course. This is held annually at various locations around Australia (Victoria, NSW, Tasmania) and active ski patrollers must recertify every three years. Passing the course involves successful completion of both written and scenario-based assessments. Most resorts also conduct additional resort-based training on an annual basis, and in some cases successful completion of practical assessments is also necessary in order to continue working as a patroller at that resort. Some competencies must be completed on an annual basis e.g., CPR and defibrillator, Oxygen, Penthrane and Entonox.

Mt Baw Baw (http://www.mountbawbaw.com.au/) is one of the smaller Victorian resorts and does not have onsite medical and ambulance services, so there is normally a lengthy wait for ambulance attendance and ski patrollers must care for casualties for extended periods. During 2011 Mt Baw Baw Alpine Resort took the decision to break new ground and introduce vocational competencies for its ski patrollers as a risk management strategy. This proved to be somewhat controversial and some resignations of patrollers occurred as a result. In essence, the assessments involved a written first aid theory paper, a written paper covering resort-specific operational procedures and two practical scenario-based assessments, one for a conscious casualty and the other for a casualty with an altered conscious state. All the scenarios were based on events which actually occurred at Mt Baw Baw and thus were extremely realistic. Different assessment schema have been trialled over the two seasons: intially "competent/not yet competent" and currently score-based. Candidates will be given a summary scoring sheet, and feedback will be given by a resort representative.

An additional innovation for 2012 was a training day based around small-group work in the areas of Approach to the Casualty: Incident Evaluation, Primary, Vital Signs and Secondary Surveys, History Taking; Glasgow Coma Scale; and Hygiene. This was very successful.

The Mt Baw Baw Medical (First Aid) Centre: